Garment



July 17, 1962 D. A. GOURDON GARMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 30, 1959 Tia. l

INVENTOR. poem/E ,4. 60UDOAl 12? wwgdw ATTOB/UEKT D. A. GOURDON July 17, 19 2 GARMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 50, 1959 INVENTOR. flaw/E A. 60 mew/v Arrow/5w July 17, 1962 D. A. GOURDON GARMENT Filed March 30, 1959 4 SheetsSheet 3 INVENTOR.

fiO/P/ALE ,4. 600 900 BY July 17, 1962 D. A. GOURDON GARMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 50, 1959 INVENTQR. fla/e/A/f A, fiouwolv BY 2 AIME/V556 United States 3,044,470 GARMENT Doriue A. Gourdon, 91 Central Park West, New York, N.Y. Filed Mar. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 802,890 7 Claims. (Cl. 128-52S) This invention relates to garments and more particularly to such garments as girdles, panty-girdles, bathing. suits and similar close-fitting apparel, made of elastic fabric.

It is well-known that elastic fabric loses much of its efliciency when the strands are cut and then resewn as in the making of a girdle or the like in which a number of separate panels of elastic fabric are sewn together to form a complete garment. According to the present invention, a single piece of elastic fabric may be used to form substantially the entire garment and, therefore, need have only one complete seam where the ends of the fabric are joined together to form a loop of the proper dimensions to fit around the lower section of the torso of the wearer.

In order to perform its proper function, such a garment must be shaped to correspond generally to the body conformation of the wearer and to enhance the body conformation only by means of subtle and proper pressure thereon, rather than by attempting to revise the conformation extensively by means of the elastic tension in the garment. Accordingly, in the present invention, darts are made in the upper and lower edges of the garment to revise the circumference of the garment at the upper and lower edges with respect to the circumference at intermediate points, but in accordance with the concept of not cutting the strands of the fabric more than is necessary, the darts do not extend all of the way across the width of the piece of fabric, either from the top down or from the lower edge up.

Another feature which is desirable in garments of the type to which the present invention is related, is the ability of the garment to remain in place on the wearer. Normally, such a garment will not tend to slide downward, but may tend to move upward. Hence, one of the features of the invention is an arrangement of darts placed such that the contour of the back portion of the garment is molded generally in conformity with the corresponding portion of the wearer so that the lowermost section of the back part of the garment fits closely against the thighs of the wearer and immediately above that section, the garment is molded outward to conform to and to mold the buttocks of the wearer. This feature is useful not only in a girdle type of garment, but also in a panty-type of garment because it improves the fit and, therefore, makes the garment more comfortable.

Further, in accordance with the invention, a garment and particularly a girdle may be formed of a single, approximately rectangular piece of material having finished edges at both the top and the bottom, and only a minimum amount of the fabric need be wasted by cutting. In a panty type of garment, the crotch piece may, if desired, be integral with the main piece of cloth from which the garment is formed, and in any event, the lowermost section at the back of the garment under the aforementioned darts that mold the back of the garment may be extended to form a portion of the leg section and may be sewn directly to the crotch piece for this purpose.

It is to be understood that by the method described and claimed herein, a garment is provided giving utmost comfort to the wearer and a maximum good fit. Furthermore,

- as stated herein, the use of this method results in a maximum saving of material and a minimum number of operations to form the completed garment.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing, and such other objects as may hereinafter appear, this invention consists in the construction and combination of parts and method of 3,044,470 Patented. July 17, 1962 ice making the same as described in the specification and the claims and various forms of the garment may be made without digressing from my inventive idea as defined in the claims.

In the drawings forming-a part hereof:

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a panty-type garment constructed according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a back view of the garment in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a side view of the garment in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a pattern suitable for making the garment of FIG. 1;

'FIG. 5 shows a front view of a girdle type of garment according to the invention;

FIG. 6 shows a back view of the garment in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a front view of a modified form of pantytype garment;

FIG. 8 shows a back view of the garment shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 shows a side view of the garment shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 shows a pattern suitable for making the garment shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. I

FIG. 11 shows a front view of a modified form of the girdle type of garment made according to my invention, and

FIG. 12. shows a back view of a garment shown in FIG. 11.

The garment of FIG. 1 is a panty-type of garment having a main front, or abdominal section 10, with darts 11 and 12 at the sides thereof to shape the upper part of the garment. These darts follow natural body lines and are, therefore, more comfortable and more effective than they would be if they did not. At the lower center section of the garment is a crotch piece 13 defined by a pair of darts 14 and 15 which follow generally the groin line. Two strips 16 and 17 are sewn to the crotch piece 13 and to the lower edge of the section 10 to cooperate therewith in forming the leg portions of the garment.

In FIG. 2, it may be seen that the strips 16 and 17 are extensions of the same single piece of fabric below a pair of curved darts 18 and 19 that lie in a generally horizontal line but which curve somewhat to conform to the line joining the buttocks and upper thighs of the wearer.

The garment is formed of a single piece of fabric of a length sufiicient to extend around the lower section of the torso of the wearer, and the ends are joined together along the back seam 20 which is the only seam in the garment that extends from the upper edge to the lower. Additional darts 21 and 22 extend generally downward from the upper edge to cooperate with the side darts 11 and 12 to shape the upper section of the garment. The darts are all symmetrical about a center line of the garment passing through the axis of the body, to insure comfortable and proper fitting of the garment.

FIG. 3 shows more clearly the line of joining of the lowermost section of the garment consisting of the strip 17 and the section .23 immediately above it which is shaped by the darts to conform generally to and to hold the wearers buttocks. This shaping of the garment is accomplished by a minimum of cutting and sewing, which both reduces the cost of manufacture and improves the comfort of the garment by reducing the number of seams and ridges. As may also be seen, the garment is constructed so that the lower edge is higher at the front of the bodythan at the back to provide. greater comfort in walking.

FIG. 4 shows a pattern by which a piece of elastic fabric may be cut to form the garment of FIGS. 1 to 3. The first thing to be noted about the pattern in FIG. 4 is that it is symmetrical about a center vertical line 24 and that all of the darts are symmetrically displaced with respect to this line. Normally, a two-way stretch material, such as power net, would be used, but other materials and single stretch materials could be used if the direction of stretch were parallel to the arrow 25. The front darts are formed by cutting out notches 111 and7112 and sewing the edges of these notches together. Similarly, somewhat longer notches 121 and 122 are cut into the fabric and the edges sewn together to form the back darts 21 and 22 of FIG; 2. None of these darts extends all of the way from the upper edge of the fabric to the lower edge and in fact they extend from approximately a third of the way across the width of the fabric to approximately one-half of the way across.

The ends of the fabric are cut in symmetrical curves 120 and 120a which leave the ends with a generally concave shape. After cutting, the ends 126 and 120:: are sewn together along a correspondingly curved seam line to form the back seam 20, shown in P16. 2. This back seam is governed by the curvature of the lines 129 and 120a to con-form generally to the lower portion of the spine of the wearer, which gives additional room where needed.

In the particular embodiment shown, in FIGS. 1 to 3, and reduced to a pattern in FIG. 4, the crotch piece 13 is formed of the same piece of elastic fabric as the remainder of the garment. This has the advantages of reducing the number of seams and increasing the comfort but the disadvantage of leading to a considerable waste of cloth if the garment is cut from a belt of fabric of uniform width. Therefore, the crotch piece 13 may be a separate piece of fabric, if desired.

The curved notches 118 and 119 are formed near the I lower edge of the main part of the fabric and extend generally horizontally with a slight upward curvature toward the center line 24. The width of the notches 118 and 119 is such that when the edges thereof are sewn together, the fabric above the resultant dants .18 and 19 will be free to curve outward as shown in FIG. 3 to corn form to the buttocks of the wearer and the section below the dart consisting of the strips 16 and 17 will be some what constricted so as to conform generally to the upper portion of the thighs of the wearer.

The same concept and in fact the same pattern as shown in FIG. 4, with certain exceptions, may be used to form a girdle of the type shown in FIG. instead of a parity-type of garment as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. In the girdle of FIG. 5, the front piece 110 also has side darts 211 and 212 as in the case of the front piece in FIG. 1. In order to'shape' the lower section of the garment, .two symmetrically placed darts 214 and 215 are located near the front center of the garment along the groin line. Theback View of the garment of FIG. 5 is shown in FIG. 6 and corresponds very closely to the back view shown in FIG; '2. The darts 221 and 222 serve to helpshape' the upper section of the garment, and the generally horizontally disposed curved darts'218 and 219 define the junction between the lowermost section of the girdle, which fits closely about the upper rear pants of the thighs, and the section 123 immediately above it which conforms to and molds the buttocks of the wearer.

The seam 220 is somewhat different from the seam 20 in FIG. 2 in that the seam 220 extends all the way to -the lower edge of the garment since there are no leg portions. Therefore, instead of being brought through to the front of the garment, the ends of the strips 116 and'117- are sewn together to form a continuation of the seam 229. 7

FIG. 4 also shows the modification which can be made to the pattern to. form a girdle type of garment as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 instead of a panty-type of garment as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. Since the strips 16 and 17 do not need to extend all the way through to the front of the garment, they may be cut off along the line 320 and 32th..

Similarly, the crotch piece 13 may be cut olfalong a line 26 approximately in line with the lower edge of the material.

Although the; garment may, if desired, be cut from a of fabric having finished edges spaced apart by the vertical distance between the lower edge and the upper edge, as shown in FIG. 4, the result when cut and sewn as described is that the lower edge of the front part of the garment shown in FIG. 5 will be above the lower edge of the rear part of the garment, as desired, for proper fit and greatest comfort. Thus, in accordance with the invention, a straight piece of cloth is formed into a garment which is properly curved at every point.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, it is to be noted that the construction is quite similar to the. construction of the garment shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The same general principle and method are used to cut the material and form the completed garment. The only substantial difference in the construction is the provision of a pair of front darts 330 and 331 which are formed pursuant to the pattern of FIG. 10 by notches 332 and 333. The remaining notches in the pattern, FIG. 10, correspond generally with those illustrated in the pattern, FIG. 4.

This is also true of the girdle type garment illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12. Separate crotch pieces 334 and 335 are used for the completion of the garment (see FIGS. 7, 8 and 10).

This modified form of the garment has all the advantages and characteristics of the garments illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 inclusive and as described herein.

Of course, it is understood thatthe dimensions of the various parts, notches, darts, etc., will have to be varied according to the size and shape of .the wearer.

Further, the construction of the garment in any of the figures, including the darts, is such that it can be manufactured on a fashioning machine of the type well known in the industry. The darts and seam are so aligned that machines may be used which are either curved or flat and which produce chain stitches or other types which produce the garment.

What is claimed is:

1. A garment comprising a single, generally rectangular piece of elastic fabric having a long dimension and a short dimension, said long dimension having a length suflicient to extend around the lower section of the torso of the wearer, the ends of said long dimension being formed along symmetrically curved lines corresponding generally to the lower spinal region of the wearer; a seam substantially parallel to the curved ends and joining said ends together; a plurality of darts symmetrically spaced with respect to the Vertical center line of said piece of cloth and extending downward from the upper edge of said garment to shape the upper portion thereof; a plurality of darts symmetrically spaced with respect to said center line and extending upward from the lower 7, edge of said garment to shape the lower portion thereof;

and a pair of curved darts extending generally horizontally and symmetrically along the lower back portion of said garment to determine the curvature of the hack of.

said garment whereby the buttocks are-molded to a de- 1 sired curvature.

2. A garment comprising a single, generally rectangular, piece. of elastic fabric having a long dimension and a short dimension, said long dimension having a length sufficient to extend around the lower section of the torso of the wearer, the ends of said long dimension being formed along symmetric-ally curved lines corresponding to the lower portion of the spine of the wearer; a seam. generally parallel to the curved ends and joining said ends together at the center of the back of said garment; a

' plurality of notches symmetrically spaced with respect to the vertical center g line of saidpiece of fabric andextendng downward from the upper edge of said garment part of the way toward the lower edge thereof, the edges of said notches being sewn together to form darts to shapethe upper portion of said garment; a plurality of notches symmetrically spaced with respect tosaid center line and extending upward from the lower edge of said garment part of the way toward the upper edge thereof, the edges said seam, the edges of said curved notches being sewn together to determine the curvature of the back of said garment whereby the buttocks are molded to a desired curvature.

3. A garment comprising a single piece of elastic fabric having a long dimension of sufiicient length to extend around the lower section of the torso of the wearer, the ends of said piece of fabric being cut along symmetrical, curved lines corresponding generally to the lower portion of the spine of the wearer; a seam generally parallel to the curved ends and joining said ends together at the back of said garment, at least two notches symmetrically spaced with respect to the center line between said ends, said notches extending upwardly from the lower edge of said garment part of the way toward the upper edge thereof, whereby the groin line of the body of a wearer is followed, the edges of said notches being sewn together to form darts to shape the lower portion of said garment; a plurality of notches symmetrically spaced with respect to said center line and extending downward from said upper edge of said garment part of the way toward said lower edge, the edges of said last-named notches being sewn together to form darts to shape the upper portion of said garment; and a pair of curved notches extending generally horizontally and symmetrically, whereby the natural contour of the buttocks of the body of a wearer is followed, and meeting at a point near the lower end of said seam, the edges of said curved notches being sewn together to form darts to determine the curvature of the back of said garment whereby the buttocks are molded to a desired curvature and the section of said fabric below said curved notches conforms generally to the shape of the upper back section of the thighs.

4. A garment comprising a single piece of elastic fabric having a long dimension with a length sufficient to extend around the lower section of the torso of the wearer, the ends of said long dimension being formed along symmetrically curved lines corresponding generally to the lower portion of the spine of the wearer; a seam generally parallel to the curved ends and joining said ends together at the center of the back of said garment; a plurality of darts symmetrically spaced with respect to the center line between said ends and extending downward from the upper edge of said garment to shape the upper portion thereof; a plurality of darts symmetrically spaced with respect to said center line and extending upward from the lower edge of said garment to shape the lower portion thereof; and a pair of curved darts extending generally horizontally and symmetrically from a point near the lower end of said seam to determine the curvature of the back of said garment whereby the buttocks are molded to a desired curvature, the section of said fabric below each of said curved darts being adapted to extend between the legs of the wearer and being attached to the front of said garment to cooperate in forming leg sections.

5. The garment of claim 4 in which said fabric has an integral crotch-piece extending from the lower front center; and seams joining said sections of fabric below said curved darts to said crotch-piece to form a complete crotch and leg sections for said garment.

6. A garment adapted to be manufactured on a fashioning machine comprising a single piece of elastic fabric having a long dimension with a length sufiicient to extend around the lower section of the torso of the wearer, the ends of said long dimension being formed along symmetnically curved lines corresponding generally to the lower portion of the spine of the wearer; a seam generally parallel to the curved ends and joining said ends together at the center of the back of said garment; a plurality of darts symmetrically spaced with respect to the center line between said ends and extending downward from the upper edge of said garment to shape the upper portion thereof; a plurality of darts symmetrically spaced with respect to said center line and extending upward from the lower edge of said garment to shape the lower portion thereof; and a pair of curved darts extending generally horizontally and symmetrically from a point near the lower end of said seam to determine the curvature of the back of said garment whereby the buttocks are molded to a desired curvature, said fabric at the section thereof below each of said curved darts being adapted to extend between the legs of the wearer and being attached to the front of said garment to cooperate in forming leg sections. 7. The garment of claim 6 in which said fabric has an integral crotch-piece extending from the lower front center; and seams joining said fabric at the sections thereof below said curved darts to said crotch-piece to form a complete crotch and leg sections for said garment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 22,583 Fridolph Dec. 26, 1944 2,788,524 Perrier Apr. 16, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 746,260 France Mar. 7, 1933 

